Stone for Kadapa steel plant on December 27

Kadapa: Here is a piece of good news for the youth in Kadapa. The state government will lay the foundation stone for a steel plant in the district on December 27. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday made an announcement to this effect at Gnana Bheri at Yogi Vemana University.

The setting up of Kadapa steel plant has turned controversial of late with the Centre dragging its feet. It is one of the promises made in the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014 but the Centre had not been showing any interest in setting the plant ever since the division of the state.

The issue had turned sentimental which had even forced MP CM Ramesh to go on hunger strike for 11 days in June this year but as there was no response from the Centre, Naidu had announced then itself that the state would go ahead with its own plan to set up the steel plant.

Naidu, at Gnana Bheri on Tuesday, said that the Centre had become very indifferent to the needs of Andhra Pradesh, particularly for the construction of Amaravati though the state had been paying Rs 6,000 crore as taxes to the Centre. "Farmers in Amaravati have surrendered their land under pooling free of cost for construction of Amaravati but the Centre, whose responsibility it is to help the state construct Amravati has clammed up, he said.

The Chief Minister said though the Centre had remained callous, the state government had been working hard to take it forward on the road to development. "The secretariat building would be more beautiful than the Google Office building," he said and elaborated on his efforts to make the state drought free.

"Though rainfall is becoming scarce, we are making efforts to ensure that no farmer complains that he does not have irrigation facility to his farm. We are trying to link rivers to find a lasting solution to water scarcity," Naidu said.

Striking a chord with students, he said that during his student days he wanted to become an IAS officer but he later decided to become MLA so that he could serve people better. Naidu pointed out that in future AP would symbolise what development is in future. Effort is on to convert state into a knowledge hub.

Naidu said that the Centre is using its investigative agencies to raid the offices and residences of leaders of Telugu Desam Party whenever he raised his voice against it for the injustice being meted out to the state.